Hometeam SWCL basketball: Cougars have clawed their way back to top

It was only three winters ago that the storied Quaboag Regional girls’ basketball team was entering the season having won eight consecutive Central Mass. Division 3 titles and was a heavy favorite to win it all again.

First came the fall — Keri Doldoorian’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer delivered Sutton High past the Cougars at Fitchburg State in the 2011 CMass final.

2012 was a “rebuilding” year — Quaboag went 17-6 with an inexperienced roster — transitioning from the Sam McCann era to current stars Jess Korzec and Brittany Herring. But again the Cougars were ousted by the Suzies, this time in the district semifinals.

This year, it looks like one of the traditional powers of Central Mass. hoops is on its way back to the mountaintop. The No. 3 Cougars (6-0, 5-0 SWCL) boast the size, skill and experience seen on most championship rosters.

“We all think that we have a good shot (at regaining the district title) this year. We just have to stay focused,” said Korzec, who averages a team-high 12.8 points per game. “We have six really strong players, so this might be our best shot.”

Herring, who averages 12.4 points a game, is a little more confident and said the goal is to make it back to the Division 3 state final, which the Cougars last reached in 2009 when they lost to Eastern Mass. champion Swampscott.

A 6-foot-1 sophomore, Herring broke into the varsity level in eighth grade and figures to continue her emergence as one of the area’s premier post players. She gets many of her points cleaning up the boards, but it may be her pick-and-roll with Korzec that becomes Quaboag’s signature play.

“Now we’re at the point where she just gives me a little look and we both know what to do next,” said Herring, who also plays with Korzec on an AAU team.

“We’ve been really good friends since we were little,” Korzec added.

Herring looks like the latest standout 6-footer in a program with a celebrated history of turning them out. While she was a teammate of McCann for a season and considers her a mentor, three other 1,000-point scorers — all named O’Keefe — preceded her. Twins Kelsey and Reilly O’Keefe restored the program to glory over a decade ago, and younger sister Meaghan O’Keefe preceded McCann.

“The ball goes through everyone on pretty much all our plays, and I get a lot of my points off rebounds and foul shots,” said Herring, who boasts a devastating up-and-under scoop. “One of my strengths is getting the ball down low, my post moves, and if we’re playing a big girl, on defense I think I’m pretty good covering her.”

A 5-foot-7 junior who gives the Cougars size at point guard, the soft-spoken Korzec is one of the area’s elite court generals. First-year coach Cliff Lanier said Korzec is the best player on any team he has seen this season.

Twins Ally Plante, a shooter, and Ari Plante, a slasher, give Quaboag two rangy wing contributors, while 5-foot-11 Colleen Morin dares opponents to double Herring down low. All three are seniors with significant experience.

Senior captain Shelby Jankins is another perimeter threat who missed last season after tearing the ACL and meniscus in her knee playing field hockey. Jankins, the sister of Central Mass. scoring leader Thomas Jankins, has the bloodlines to appreciate the program’s history. She is a cousin of the O’Keefes and has attended games since early childhood.

The Cougars’ secret weapon may just be the even-keeled leadership of Lanier, who has been a teacher at the high school for 31 years and began coaching girls’ basketball at Quaboag during Dick Gowen’s first stretch in charge.

Gowen, of course, returned at the dawn of the O’Keefe era and the school’s latest string of titles. He handed the reins to disciple John Vayda in 2006, who then moved on the same year as McCann. Vayda gave way to his old junior varsity coach, Al Button, who guided the team during last year’s transition.

Lanier was most recently an assistant for the Anna Maria College men’s team, but some of his early coaching came on Gowen’s staff during the heyday of the O’Keefes’ aunt, Monica McCarthy, who led the school to its first two state titles back in the 1980s. Lanier later completed a stint as the Quaboag girls’ varsity coach.

A proponent of stressing the basics, Lanier makes sure his teams shoot a high free-throw percentage (Herring makes opponents pay at the line) and play strong man-to-man defense.

He also believes that a confidence-boosting philosophy is the way to get the most out of high school players. Lanier said he never negatively critiques a player without also pointing out something they’re doing well.

The way this year’s team is coming together, Lanier might not have to worry about that much longer.

Game of the Week
Quaboag’s two chief competitors for SWCL West supremacy will face off for the first time at 7:30 p.m. Friday when No. 9 Shepherd Hill Regional (4-1, 4-0), travels to Auburn (6-0, 6-0).

Auburn allows just 25 points a game, the fewest of any local team. Sarah Palace, Erin Scanlon and Lyndsey Gabrielian combine to lead the offense.

The Rams have lost only at No. 2 Algonquin Regional, in their opener. After graduating Central Mass. scoring champion Meghan Fornaro, longtime coach Jim Hackenson might have a rising star in junior guard Brooke Packard (14 points a game).